Tweeplay lets you grab IPL play-off action on Twitter

Folks like me, who are addicted to Twitter and usually miss the IPL matches and highlights, needn’t worry now as Tweeplay, an on-demand video reply on Twitter lets you have a quick look at a six or a wicket.

Tweeplay is very Twitter. Firstly, it is snack-sized content. If you want to watch an IPL match’s full highlights, for example, you’d anyway go to starsports.com and spend time there. The second reason Tweeplay is very ‘Twittery’ is that it is here-and-now.

For instance, if anyone interested in knowing more about the match will anyway be committed enough to visit the relevant website and search. But if someone is tracking current events on Twitter, Tweeplay provides the content he or she wants.

Tweeplays will be offered for all the 4s, 6s and wickets, and can be easily obtained by tweeting to @StarSportsIndia. Let’s say a Twitter user wants to see Pollard’s last 6. All he has to do is tweet “@StarSportsIndia #StarSportsTweeplay Pollard 6” and in a few minutes, he will get a reply from @StarSportsIndia with a video of Pollard’s last 6 within the Tweet.

One can see a batsman’s latest 4s and 6s or dismissal. For a bowler, one can see his last wicket (or specific type of wicket like bowled, lbw, etc.). For a fielder, one can see his last catch or run-out.

“We shared the idea of Tweeplay with Group M and they immediately they saw its potential. Together, we went to Star Sports since starsports.com has the internet rights for IPL in India. They too were excited by the concept. We also had to bring Twitter India on board, and their support has been invaluable,” says Ramesh Srivats, MD & CEO, TenTenTen, the startup behind Tweeplay.

In this IPL, StarSports.com is using Tweeplay as an innovation to cap all the other cool stuff they’ve done in this tournament. “In the future, we see Tweeplay having multiple possibilities. Media houses could use it to offer content and get people to their site,” adds Ramesh. Besides this, event owners can provide the service to create conversation in Twitter. Any hip and cool brand can associate with Tweeplay to create a buzz on Twitter.

“During this IPL, we launched Tweeplay more as an introduction/experiment. After all, it is only available for the four play-off matches. But the welcome it received has been so cool that I’m sure we can build many long-term properties with Tweeplay,” adds Ramesh.

Starting his career as a crime reporter with 'The Indian Express', Jai Vardhan is a storyteller, erstwhile entrepreneur and a habitual prankster. He is inclined towards entrepreneurship, philosophy and startups, not necessarily in that order. He likes connecting the dots, breaking news, nose and beliefs - ‘To wake up in life one must fall asleep’.